“The road is ready for everyone, but not everyone is ready for the road,” said Kull, a man who gave me a ride in the countryside of Western Arkansas. These words, like so many others, coupled with the faces and names to which they are attached ricochet within the chambers of my remembrance as I look back on the past many months of my life. So many words form and then dissolve as I try to capture some thread that I might follow to recount or at least debrief the story of my most recent adventures. I have traveled all of my life. I inherited traveling much as one might gain some family recipe or the list of recipients for Christmas Cards. Like for the recipe, I was first taken through the steps as a child would normally be, watching a family member create the dish they are to become so fond of. But, as with the child that is destined first to gain a sweet tooth, and then doubly doomed by becoming a baker, the process of enjoying and providing myself with travel recalls the earlier memories but stands on its own feet having become an art and experience beyond the reach of my younger self.
I have gone farther from home on almost every real trip I have ever taken before this one, but within my own perceptions and in tracing the nebulous outline which defines my self I have perhaps never gone so far. A little more than a year ago, were I to examine my knowledge of love, of faith, of despair, of trust, and so many other gems that grant us the depth of our humanity, I would surely have found my previous experiences had well-informed and developed my awareness and understanding. I have tried to live my life passionately and freely and I think I have lived it well for how short it has been. I could not have guessed that I would find so much about these things in this year such that it might contend with all those before it. I’m not going to talk about the deep ideological and political struggles I witnessed and was afloat in. Nor do I find this the time or place to begin to craft some epic poem describing all the harrowing adventures I had as I tried to survive and thrive on the road. Instead, I want to let this be a deep breath after the Odyssey, where I look you in the eyes and perhaps through my words the transformation wrought by the journey is made clear.
I covered more than 15000 miles of road this year, all of it spent with total strangers or long lost friends. I hitchhiked on the backs of pickups and with families in their minivans. I snuck onto buses and trains. I slept on streets, in mansions, and in more trees than I could count. I lived without a penny to my name for weeks sometimes, and having already exhausted all my savings for many months. I met hobos, hillbillies, rockstars, and leaders in business and politics. I learned that we are all the same and that also there is no common man. Most importantly I realized that I can. I can live a life trusting in complete strangers and the whims of fate because however we try to hide it, we all must. I learned that no dollar is as valuable as the next stranger you have the good fortune to speak to. There is no dark and dangerous street that someone has not had to call a home. There is no expensive and beautiful place that cannot be made to feel like a prison. Happiness, freedom, wealth, friendship- all these things are more internal than external. They cannot be given if they are not ready to be received and for those who know how to really have them they can never be taken.
I think anyone’s life can be examined from the question of how they have lived with fear. I think our entire society is a means of mitigating our fears. Every thing around us seeks to distance us from our fears. For our health and sanity I’m sure there was some point to which it was necessary, but it has all run away from us now. The world must constantly create new fears to justify itself as old fears are vanquished. It is through our fear of change, change to our wellbeing and to our security and to our ideologies, that we allow the most disastrous changes to be wrought. We have changed the natural world around us, our bodies, our diets, our ways of interacting and caring, and most of these changes have occurred because we were afraid. We fear each other, our governments, nature, and ourselves. But what if we didn‘t?
I’m not worried about anyone else’s answer anymore. I don’t hold anyone’s choices against them. This world will not be saved or ruined by anything I think. This world will not be saved or ruined. Making a decision does not need to mean that decision is right for anyone else. Choosing to do something does not need to be decided based upon how likely it is to be successful. Living should not happen out of fear of dying but if anything a fear of not living. I’m done with everything that is not living.
The past few years of my life may outwardly have had the appearance of this shift, but trust me the decision was an internal one recently made and perhaps it needs to be remade every day. I am not afraid to die poor and starving on some street somewhere. I am not afraid that my life will pass without having made a difference. I am not afraid of being forgotten. I am not afraid of being alone or sick or successful. I welcome all those things. Whatever my story is destined to be I am completely at peace with. My life will pass and will be whatever it was but I can drink every moment for what it is worth. I don’t need a plan, a safety net, a fallback, or anything. Every day will bring what it needs, be it hardship or plenty. What I need and what I have is passion. Passion for the things I love to live my life doing and compassion for all those other things living theirs. I will wake up every morning I can, high in a tree, greeted by the dances of leaves. I will touch down to the earth and take off at a run, vaulting and flipping over the world we have found and created. I will converse with others in word or in movement and share our experiences of this organic spaceship we hug to the surface of. I will have ideas big and small. I will not let them rule me, but I will follow them for so long as they tug upon my heart and foster my loves. I will leave. Not tomorrow or next month, but soon, sooner than I can sometimes bear, on adventures that have no end. I will leave on foot and by thumb and head west until I hit ocean. I will talk my way over sea or air until I’m on land and then continue the process repeated. I will learn every language I can, climb trees, master my arts every day with all my strength, be hungry, be poor, be lost, be helpful, be a shoulder to cry on and a hand for the fallen, and I will be happy as I am right now no matter where I am and what is happening. I will write books I may never publish and scribble poems I may never share, invent moves and forget them, learn words and leave them behind. I will tell stories and listen to others. Nothing is as valuable to the human mind as the story, and I will be a very wealthy man.
I don’t know if I’ll continue this blog or not, but I’ll give some thoughts. Not advice, but these things help open doors for me all the time. Smile and mean it. Hug, and when you do, realize that every hug may be both of your last on this world. Trees are better than any gym anyone can build. Do what ever you love every day because then no matter what happens, a day will never feel wasted. If you’re a traveler find something you love to do and don’t give it up because of the road, in fact bring it with you and hold it close. Drink lots of water.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Journey to the East... Coast
Hi everyone, been a little while. This will be my first blog since my tablet died and now I type on a smartphone. First of all, why did I head east? Well, originally it was the idea of friends who ended up not showing up unfortunately. Once the initial seed had been planted I gave it a lot of my own motivations. I needed to travel, and if it had not been here it would have been Mexico or Asia I imagine. I really needed to see for myself how the occupy movement was doing in the part of the country that started it, and I'll speak more on that in a bit. I also felt a need to see my own country a bit more, especially as it is in this strange age it finds itself. However what really sealed my need to come this way was that I had not seen my grandparents on this side of the country in a decade, and no matter how you cut it that is unacceptable.
The trip has been met by fairly mixed fortunes since the beginning. Catching a rideshare off of craigslist, I meet some great people, and made a very good friend with whom I rode the whole way. We were lucky that we had an amazing amount in common and got along great since four whole days is a long time to spend with a complete stranger. We both got a friend for life from the experience I feel. Unfortunately, after Oklahoma city, we could find no other riders with whom we could split gas, so the trip was much more expensive than either of us had expected. His poor van also had a dying transmission made worse by the cold. We never knew for sure each time the car stopped, how long before it would start again, or whether it would again at all. We spent those four days eating as little as we could, passing through the coldest parts of the country, trying to stay warm sleeping in a freezing car.
Getting into dc, walking past all these crazy sites I'd only seen in movies was a bit of a trip. DC has two occupations, huge encampments in the center of the nation's capital. I made my way to the larger, somewhat more chaotic original encampment, where spirits were high and a single broad leafed evergreen, stood near the heart of camp, beckoning me to hide my portable treehouse.
Cold and rainy weather coupled with dumpster salvaged or donated meals should convince all doubters as to the commitment of these demanders of social and political change. The camp has a library, a kitchen, a radical anarchist/ communist reading room, a tea house, and now bicycle powered generators.
The day we marched on congress and the other seats of power, was a tremendous and impressionable day. Speaking in front of the national General assembly about Albuquerque's name change in support of indigenous and colonized peoples was amazing and it was great to see the huge support for something that has troubled some people needlessly. I love speaking to crowds. It was so reaffirming standing with so many others who call for and believe in the the power of non violent revolution to move for a better more equal and sustainable world. I felt a part of a peaceful army. We get by in non armed military encampments of artists and philosophers. We marshal from near and far and march to symbolic landmarks where we take and hold ground. Our only powers are our numbers, our voices, and our minds. My first view of the US supreme court was as the vanguard of a liberating army, rushing our banner up the steps and past the guards as we quickly unfurled it to welcome the thousands following us. On the fence of the white house we shared stories of hardships and family members lost to unnecessary war or curable diseases while commandos and snipers kept us in their sights.
Coming down from this day I don't know what happens next. We are still too few, and the times are just comfortable enough for enough people that they don't yet question whether we could do better for ourselves, our species, and our planet. As a warrior trained to fight, I'm still learning how to make myself useful in a peaceful revolution. As communicator, deescalator, farmer, organizer, engineer, there is a lot of learning I need before I can be more useful, but I'll do my best. I do feel we have to try, whether we have a hope of change or not.
Now, voice still hoarse from chanting, limbs cold and stiff from winter outside in a tree, I look to the next step. The friends I knew have moved on. A homeless man told the police about my hammock. We're not taking the Capital back for the disenfranchised this trip. Time to move on. We'll see how long it takes to get to south Florida, and what adventures that road holds.
The trip has been met by fairly mixed fortunes since the beginning. Catching a rideshare off of craigslist, I meet some great people, and made a very good friend with whom I rode the whole way. We were lucky that we had an amazing amount in common and got along great since four whole days is a long time to spend with a complete stranger. We both got a friend for life from the experience I feel. Unfortunately, after Oklahoma city, we could find no other riders with whom we could split gas, so the trip was much more expensive than either of us had expected. His poor van also had a dying transmission made worse by the cold. We never knew for sure each time the car stopped, how long before it would start again, or whether it would again at all. We spent those four days eating as little as we could, passing through the coldest parts of the country, trying to stay warm sleeping in a freezing car.
Getting into dc, walking past all these crazy sites I'd only seen in movies was a bit of a trip. DC has two occupations, huge encampments in the center of the nation's capital. I made my way to the larger, somewhat more chaotic original encampment, where spirits were high and a single broad leafed evergreen, stood near the heart of camp, beckoning me to hide my portable treehouse.
Cold and rainy weather coupled with dumpster salvaged or donated meals should convince all doubters as to the commitment of these demanders of social and political change. The camp has a library, a kitchen, a radical anarchist/ communist reading room, a tea house, and now bicycle powered generators.
The day we marched on congress and the other seats of power, was a tremendous and impressionable day. Speaking in front of the national General assembly about Albuquerque's name change in support of indigenous and colonized peoples was amazing and it was great to see the huge support for something that has troubled some people needlessly. I love speaking to crowds. It was so reaffirming standing with so many others who call for and believe in the the power of non violent revolution to move for a better more equal and sustainable world. I felt a part of a peaceful army. We get by in non armed military encampments of artists and philosophers. We marshal from near and far and march to symbolic landmarks where we take and hold ground. Our only powers are our numbers, our voices, and our minds. My first view of the US supreme court was as the vanguard of a liberating army, rushing our banner up the steps and past the guards as we quickly unfurled it to welcome the thousands following us. On the fence of the white house we shared stories of hardships and family members lost to unnecessary war or curable diseases while commandos and snipers kept us in their sights.
Coming down from this day I don't know what happens next. We are still too few, and the times are just comfortable enough for enough people that they don't yet question whether we could do better for ourselves, our species, and our planet. As a warrior trained to fight, I'm still learning how to make myself useful in a peaceful revolution. As communicator, deescalator, farmer, organizer, engineer, there is a lot of learning I need before I can be more useful, but I'll do my best. I do feel we have to try, whether we have a hope of change or not.
Now, voice still hoarse from chanting, limbs cold and stiff from winter outside in a tree, I look to the next step. The friends I knew have moved on. A homeless man told the police about my hammock. We're not taking the Capital back for the disenfranchised this trip. Time to move on. We'll see how long it takes to get to south Florida, and what adventures that road holds.
Friday, October 7, 2011
We can do better
The world we live in is a product of the best and worst of our natures, but what all of them should have proven to us by now is that impossible is a direction not a static truth. We have used our ingenuity to push what is possible and have guided it in our kindness and in our depravity. We can solve problems in ways never imagined and expand conditions of destruction and suffering to every corner of the Earth. We are not limited, except by our belief in our own limitations. Science is showing that personally we are all full of more potential than most of us have ever pursued. Labels of athletic or intelligent, creative or social, and all their antonyms are instead of static conditions bestowed at birth, complex potentials that can be unlocked or ignored by the interplay of our environments and our thought processes. The body is dynamic and so is the mind. As it is with the individual, so it must be for the society. We are imposing and letting others impose limits on our human potential, while like the consumption of junkfood, our easiest and worst natures are given free reign to run amok. We let greed be the driving force in our economies and our societies because we choose it to be, not because it has to be. We let apathy, depression, and fear be our determining characteristics not by some natural truth but by the smallness of our own vision for ourselves.
I have another vision. I see nearly seven billion humans not as a liability to our world, nor as a resource for the growth of capital, but as an endless supply of human creative force. We are all geniuses, masterful athletes, loving caretakers, world changers. Anything less is a false limitation. We have the power to encourage the growth and development of every human on this planet to be a problem-solver, taking advantage of their full potential. This will never happen in the world as we have limited it today because those limitations do not accept it as a possibility. The truth is that our own ingenuity will force a decision for change. We are not valuable for our physical strength, machines are superior, and the continuing loss of jobs based on that strength makes that clear. We are not valuable for ability to store and access information, computers are superior at that, and the job market will steadily show this to be increasingly true. Our value is in our minds' creative potential to solve problems and in our emotional potential to care enough to solve them. As it is, the world will become increasingly impersonal, the mass number of people will be viewed as less and less valuable, and their sole market value as consumers will only degrade the Earth and create the conditions of their own misery, driving them into debt, inescapable as the jobs will not exist to free them. These limitations and the future they promise are unacceptable.
I believe the first limitation we must overcome is that of the They. There is no they. There is no right or left wing, no rich or poor, no smart or dumb. These are the roles we play, and which we have given ourselves to play. Do not hate the rich investor who has gambled with our resources, as he was only playing his role in the system. He was looking out for his own interests, and from the standpoint of the system, has done nothing wrong. That is why he is protected by it. The wealthy and powerful are our enemies only for so long as they are our heroes; as long as some part of ourselves wishes to be fabulously wealthy and hold power over others we are creating them. Every political line is an illusion taking advantage of our social differences to hide the many ways we are the same. We all care about our fellow humans until we let ourselves believe the limitations we have placed on them and see them as less. We allow religion, ethnicity, culture, and even geography to be used against us by those of us who are in power. We encourage enmity at all levels of our society and use it to justify everything wrong we see around us. It is always their fault; but it's not. Every day that we limit each other and ourselves it is our fault, regardless of the role we play, as leader or follower, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, conservative or liberal. There is no enemy.
There is also no endpoint. We cannot allow the system of limitations to continue. There is no perfect world, but there will always be solutions to help make a better one. We will never be done, and that is the beauty of it. We are perfectly capable of always changing, always collaborating, and always caring enough to continue. I believe this is a path. I believe we have been walking on it every moment of our history. However, too long we have been carrying these burdens which weigh us down, causing us to hate ourselves, and hide our real goals.
Although there is no endpoint we have real goals. We want to be healthy, given the chance to breathe clean air, eat good food, and live a long healthy life. We want security, so that we need not fear for our loved ones. We want challenge; to be able to go out challenging ourselves, or being challenged, to be better, do more, and work towards our visions. We want freedom, to pursue these goals and live our lives with those we care about and in the way we believe will make our lives good. We all want those things, work for those things, fight for those things, and blame others and ourselves for not having them. We must believe that there are ways to find them for everyone, and then once that belief is held, we must direct all of our greatest human potential towards finding them. Only once the limitations are stripped away and this possibility embraced, does there exist a chance for it.
I believe we have answers and will come up with many more. I believe we can accept that this is for all of us, not just some, and that we are all on the same side. I believe we can do better than our limitations have allowed. I believe we need not have our societies, communities, and ourselves guided by our worst natures, but instead encourage our best. I believe this so strongly that I am willing to work every day for the rest of my life to help everyone's limitations be dropped, their potential be reached, and this world set free of the corruption we have allowed for so long because we saw no other way. We are all the revolution. There is no perfect answer, but we must strive for a better one.
I have another vision. I see nearly seven billion humans not as a liability to our world, nor as a resource for the growth of capital, but as an endless supply of human creative force. We are all geniuses, masterful athletes, loving caretakers, world changers. Anything less is a false limitation. We have the power to encourage the growth and development of every human on this planet to be a problem-solver, taking advantage of their full potential. This will never happen in the world as we have limited it today because those limitations do not accept it as a possibility. The truth is that our own ingenuity will force a decision for change. We are not valuable for our physical strength, machines are superior, and the continuing loss of jobs based on that strength makes that clear. We are not valuable for ability to store and access information, computers are superior at that, and the job market will steadily show this to be increasingly true. Our value is in our minds' creative potential to solve problems and in our emotional potential to care enough to solve them. As it is, the world will become increasingly impersonal, the mass number of people will be viewed as less and less valuable, and their sole market value as consumers will only degrade the Earth and create the conditions of their own misery, driving them into debt, inescapable as the jobs will not exist to free them. These limitations and the future they promise are unacceptable.
I believe the first limitation we must overcome is that of the They. There is no they. There is no right or left wing, no rich or poor, no smart or dumb. These are the roles we play, and which we have given ourselves to play. Do not hate the rich investor who has gambled with our resources, as he was only playing his role in the system. He was looking out for his own interests, and from the standpoint of the system, has done nothing wrong. That is why he is protected by it. The wealthy and powerful are our enemies only for so long as they are our heroes; as long as some part of ourselves wishes to be fabulously wealthy and hold power over others we are creating them. Every political line is an illusion taking advantage of our social differences to hide the many ways we are the same. We all care about our fellow humans until we let ourselves believe the limitations we have placed on them and see them as less. We allow religion, ethnicity, culture, and even geography to be used against us by those of us who are in power. We encourage enmity at all levels of our society and use it to justify everything wrong we see around us. It is always their fault; but it's not. Every day that we limit each other and ourselves it is our fault, regardless of the role we play, as leader or follower, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, conservative or liberal. There is no enemy.
There is also no endpoint. We cannot allow the system of limitations to continue. There is no perfect world, but there will always be solutions to help make a better one. We will never be done, and that is the beauty of it. We are perfectly capable of always changing, always collaborating, and always caring enough to continue. I believe this is a path. I believe we have been walking on it every moment of our history. However, too long we have been carrying these burdens which weigh us down, causing us to hate ourselves, and hide our real goals.
Although there is no endpoint we have real goals. We want to be healthy, given the chance to breathe clean air, eat good food, and live a long healthy life. We want security, so that we need not fear for our loved ones. We want challenge; to be able to go out challenging ourselves, or being challenged, to be better, do more, and work towards our visions. We want freedom, to pursue these goals and live our lives with those we care about and in the way we believe will make our lives good. We all want those things, work for those things, fight for those things, and blame others and ourselves for not having them. We must believe that there are ways to find them for everyone, and then once that belief is held, we must direct all of our greatest human potential towards finding them. Only once the limitations are stripped away and this possibility embraced, does there exist a chance for it.
I believe we have answers and will come up with many more. I believe we can accept that this is for all of us, not just some, and that we are all on the same side. I believe we can do better than our limitations have allowed. I believe we need not have our societies, communities, and ourselves guided by our worst natures, but instead encourage our best. I believe this so strongly that I am willing to work every day for the rest of my life to help everyone's limitations be dropped, their potential be reached, and this world set free of the corruption we have allowed for so long because we saw no other way. We are all the revolution. There is no perfect answer, but we must strive for a better one.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Steps on the Path...
There's so much I'd love to talk you guys about, so I apologize if this blog seems at all cluttered. First of all, life is wonderful; if you haven't stopped and appreciated that fact yet today, feel free to now. And, if for any reason you have any doubt, stop reading this blog and go do something you love or talk to someone who brightens your world. Now that we're on the same page, I'd just like to apologize to all the people who have had trouble reaching me during my travels, sometimes I'm more connected or available than others, please don't take it personally.
After an unforgettable trip to Hawaii, I headed to California to spend some quality time with the grandparents and do some good ol' fashioned physical labor. It's definitely been some hard work the past couple weeks, but I really enjoyed it all, especially doing some tree care up in the mountains. I love working hard outside and my thoughts seem clearer and more productive than when I am too much indoors. I really can't ever see myself working at a desk, one way or another. Luckily I've been lucky with work lately and tonight head back to Albuquerque and start my next gig working crazy hours at the balloon fiesta. Good news will be I should have enough money for my next adventure or two, dependent on destination, but don't worry friends, family, and parkour/kung fu family, I'll be stationed in ABQ a while to train and pad the savings a bit more. So yeah, lots of training, be ready guys.
I really feel like I've gotten a chance to connect with nature and rekindle my spirituality this trip. Meditating and practicing chi gong every day are definitely easier when you're doing them in gorgeous natural places every day. Also, it seems the world around me has conspired to fill my world with really inspiring people and experiences lately, perhaps more than usual. I love being an urban tarzan but nothing compares to hammocking under an open sky filled with the milky way and shooting stars. Being awoken by bears at 4 in the morning might not be for everyone, but I definitely recommend getting back to a more natural sleep schedule once in a while. Turns out if you go to bed not long after it gets dark, you sleep for a few hours and then experience an hour or more of complete wakefulness just to think and spend with yourself. Here's some good info. It's really peaceful and you end up waking up very clearheaded and refreshed at sunrise.
Every trip I've taken seems to end up holding a clear purpose for me in hindsight, even if completely unintended. That said, some of my trips are going to start getting more focused. The world is full of passionate thinkers who share the arts I love or the vision for the world I feel is possible. My mission is ever more clearly becoming that of questioning what is considered possible in pursuit of what is inspiring and amazing, and in everything from how we move to how we fix the problems of our planet, I want to go out and find people who share that drive. Feel free to help steer me in the right directions.
Well, as much else as I'd love to share, I have to keep some stuff for stories and good conversation which is the real point anyway. Last time I put my plans and ideas out, they worked pretty well so I think I'll do it again. I still plan to run the Duke City marathon in less than a month, crazy though that may end up being. My next trip is still looking to be Mexico, so those plans will start being worked out soon. Coming up I'm looking at heading west to the East again but who knows how and where. Possible targets in no particular order include Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, Russia, and hopefully Hawaii again. I have multiple conflicting ideas though so don't expect plan details for a while. I have some big plans while I'm landlocked, and on that note if any martial artists who I don't already train with are interested, please get in touch, but if you're not hardcore, maybe don't. Freerunners, I know we're all busy. No excuses.
That'll do for now. Keep living the dream and if you're not, get started.
After an unforgettable trip to Hawaii, I headed to California to spend some quality time with the grandparents and do some good ol' fashioned physical labor. It's definitely been some hard work the past couple weeks, but I really enjoyed it all, especially doing some tree care up in the mountains. I love working hard outside and my thoughts seem clearer and more productive than when I am too much indoors. I really can't ever see myself working at a desk, one way or another. Luckily I've been lucky with work lately and tonight head back to Albuquerque and start my next gig working crazy hours at the balloon fiesta. Good news will be I should have enough money for my next adventure or two, dependent on destination, but don't worry friends, family, and parkour/kung fu family, I'll be stationed in ABQ a while to train and pad the savings a bit more. So yeah, lots of training, be ready guys.
I really feel like I've gotten a chance to connect with nature and rekindle my spirituality this trip. Meditating and practicing chi gong every day are definitely easier when you're doing them in gorgeous natural places every day. Also, it seems the world around me has conspired to fill my world with really inspiring people and experiences lately, perhaps more than usual. I love being an urban tarzan but nothing compares to hammocking under an open sky filled with the milky way and shooting stars. Being awoken by bears at 4 in the morning might not be for everyone, but I definitely recommend getting back to a more natural sleep schedule once in a while. Turns out if you go to bed not long after it gets dark, you sleep for a few hours and then experience an hour or more of complete wakefulness just to think and spend with yourself. Here's some good info. It's really peaceful and you end up waking up very clearheaded and refreshed at sunrise.
Every trip I've taken seems to end up holding a clear purpose for me in hindsight, even if completely unintended. That said, some of my trips are going to start getting more focused. The world is full of passionate thinkers who share the arts I love or the vision for the world I feel is possible. My mission is ever more clearly becoming that of questioning what is considered possible in pursuit of what is inspiring and amazing, and in everything from how we move to how we fix the problems of our planet, I want to go out and find people who share that drive. Feel free to help steer me in the right directions.
Well, as much else as I'd love to share, I have to keep some stuff for stories and good conversation which is the real point anyway. Last time I put my plans and ideas out, they worked pretty well so I think I'll do it again. I still plan to run the Duke City marathon in less than a month, crazy though that may end up being. My next trip is still looking to be Mexico, so those plans will start being worked out soon. Coming up I'm looking at heading west to the East again but who knows how and where. Possible targets in no particular order include Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, Russia, and hopefully Hawaii again. I have multiple conflicting ideas though so don't expect plan details for a while. I have some big plans while I'm landlocked, and on that note if any martial artists who I don't already train with are interested, please get in touch, but if you're not hardcore, maybe don't. Freerunners, I know we're all busy. No excuses.
That'll do for now. Keep living the dream and if you're not, get started.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Where there's a will, there's a way to... Hawaii
Another adventure and so time for another blog. As short a trip as this is, it's value has been grossly disproportionate. Hawaii really is as amazing as people say. I'm glad I got the oppurtunity to experience Hawaii first on the big island, as it really does give a great first impression. Expecting that most of Hawaii had been turned into a tourist trap, it's amazing how such an amazing place can maintain such independence from all that. Something about constantly seeing the world around you destroyed and remade by a volcano breeds a distinct character and perhaps enough threat to keep the world of big investment at bay. From arriving at the nearly empty airport in Hilo, the island's largest city, I knew I had made a great decision in coming.
Really starting things off right, I decided to hitchhike to the Kalani retreat; hitchhiking is a comfortably common practice on the island. I ended up being given a ride by the founder of an amazing little ecovillage on the island. Before heading to Kalani, I went to go check out their village Cinderland which was started on a lava field, with all tents and living spaces built by hand and by almost entirely salvaged and recycled materials. They reclaimed the land from the lava and now it's full fledged agri-jungle, off the grid in every respect.
Kalani has a similar spirit at it's heart, but has manifested in a much more modern and accessible way. The grounds are gorgeous with a nearly constant cycle of meditation, yoga, and dance classes, as well as group trips to local spots of interest. Meals are amazing and shared and the entire community experience is something I think the whole world could use more of. Exploring giant lavarock tide pools against a backdrop of powerful surf and amazing green sand beaches were just some of my first adventures and I'm sure I have a few left to come.
As always, food and beautiful scenery, though amazing, take a backseat to the connections to amazing people I keep finding. More than anything, the chance to connect with new friends and reconnect with old will keep me travelling. I have found that there is no limit to how many absolutely stunningly amazing people you can meet. The more I travel, making new family, the more hope I have for the idea of global citizenship and the human family.
As in most of my journeys I have yet again found communities which are open, caring, and healthy, not just in the personal sense, but as models in the search for how to heal the growing wounds in our cultures and communities. That coupled with somehow picking up a bunch of new tricks and flips with the change of scenery, as well as picking up some hopefully lifelong friendships, I'd have to say it's been a good week.
Really starting things off right, I decided to hitchhike to the Kalani retreat; hitchhiking is a comfortably common practice on the island. I ended up being given a ride by the founder of an amazing little ecovillage on the island. Before heading to Kalani, I went to go check out their village Cinderland which was started on a lava field, with all tents and living spaces built by hand and by almost entirely salvaged and recycled materials. They reclaimed the land from the lava and now it's full fledged agri-jungle, off the grid in every respect.
Kalani has a similar spirit at it's heart, but has manifested in a much more modern and accessible way. The grounds are gorgeous with a nearly constant cycle of meditation, yoga, and dance classes, as well as group trips to local spots of interest. Meals are amazing and shared and the entire community experience is something I think the whole world could use more of. Exploring giant lavarock tide pools against a backdrop of powerful surf and amazing green sand beaches were just some of my first adventures and I'm sure I have a few left to come.
As always, food and beautiful scenery, though amazing, take a backseat to the connections to amazing people I keep finding. More than anything, the chance to connect with new friends and reconnect with old will keep me travelling. I have found that there is no limit to how many absolutely stunningly amazing people you can meet. The more I travel, making new family, the more hope I have for the idea of global citizenship and the human family.
As in most of my journeys I have yet again found communities which are open, caring, and healthy, not just in the personal sense, but as models in the search for how to heal the growing wounds in our cultures and communities. That coupled with somehow picking up a bunch of new tricks and flips with the change of scenery, as well as picking up some hopefully lifelong friendships, I'd have to say it's been a good week.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Miles and miles to go before I sleep
Time for a blog! I have to admit this one's as much for my own benefit as it is to share. Needed to do some writing to kind of organize my thoughts.
Living here in Dulan has been great. My chinese has improved, I've made great new friends and really just had an amazing time. I could go into every little adventure, but then what stories would I have to share with you all in person? (Which is the real fun anyway.) In a few days I will leave to wander Taiwan for a week spending time visiting and getting to know cool people I've met the past couple months. Hopefully my budget survives the adventure...
Either way, I'm not really writing this blog to look back, but to look ahead. I have so many opportunities popping up and ideas in my head, I really need to put them all down.
Getting back to the states, while in the LA area I hope to visit both family and friends and I really want to make it to the Tempest freerunning academy for a workout. If you haven't heard of it, search on youtube and check out their promo, it's amazing. A good surf session before going back to the desert would be great too. I am honestly nervous about not living near the ocean anymore. All this in three or four days before I have to get back to Albuquerque for a big lion dance/kung fu performance and my brother's 21st birthday.
The fun doesn't stop there by any stretch... The week after I get back, I'm off to Denver for a national parkour jam, and the Apex invitational parkour/freerunning competition. That will be a blast, and I can't wait to hangout with all my freerunning family.
After that, I'm organizing several formal training sessions every week for martial arts, parkour, and weapon work. I'll be really stepping up my training regimen and I plan to have some company. Along with that, I am in the process of organizing an informal association of martial arts students of all disciplines in Albuquerque, to promote community outside of competition. Martial artists should really be working together and sharing, not isolated in the islands of martial arts schools you find now. Especially for those students committed to reaching the highest levels of skill in the long-term, I think that this is vital.
In the next couple months, somewhere squeezed between earning the basic amount of money my chosen lifestyle requires, I also have some other major travels planned. In September I will be running the Duke City marathon, but earlier in that same month I've got the opportunity to visit a very good friend who will be in Hawaii, and staying there while she's there will be much more affordable than it would normally ever be... So maybe a week in Hawaii? Let's hope a cheap plane ticket materializes.
... Because I also really want to visit my friends down in Mexico sometime this fall. Guadalajara, Zacatecas, and Villahermosa are very much in my thoughts and I already feel I've let too much time pass since I've visited. Money to get down there is the only serious issue, that coupled with keeping any work that I manage to get despite these various plans.
If you're seeing a trend towards travel and seizing any idea/opportunity that comes to me, good. I've reached a point where I really see the sort of life I want. I have clear goals and I really believe I can achieve them. The path I'm envisioning will require as much hard work and sacrafice as the happiness it promises me. I think, having found the life I want to work to have, it is not any more difficult to achieve in principle than any other happy life. What I may sacrafice in stability and future "security"(as if the future were ever secure) for a chance to really take advantage of my youthful years, make the most of myself and gain all the education of experience that can be gained no other way.
The adventure ahead is intimidating so I can understand if you think I'm a little crazy. The truth is these aren't even half the plans I've got cooking. Give me a little faith, when it's all said and done, it'll make for a book you'll actually want to read.
Living here in Dulan has been great. My chinese has improved, I've made great new friends and really just had an amazing time. I could go into every little adventure, but then what stories would I have to share with you all in person? (Which is the real fun anyway.) In a few days I will leave to wander Taiwan for a week spending time visiting and getting to know cool people I've met the past couple months. Hopefully my budget survives the adventure...
Either way, I'm not really writing this blog to look back, but to look ahead. I have so many opportunities popping up and ideas in my head, I really need to put them all down.
Getting back to the states, while in the LA area I hope to visit both family and friends and I really want to make it to the Tempest freerunning academy for a workout. If you haven't heard of it, search on youtube and check out their promo, it's amazing. A good surf session before going back to the desert would be great too. I am honestly nervous about not living near the ocean anymore. All this in three or four days before I have to get back to Albuquerque for a big lion dance/kung fu performance and my brother's 21st birthday.
The fun doesn't stop there by any stretch... The week after I get back, I'm off to Denver for a national parkour jam, and the Apex invitational parkour/freerunning competition. That will be a blast, and I can't wait to hangout with all my freerunning family.
After that, I'm organizing several formal training sessions every week for martial arts, parkour, and weapon work. I'll be really stepping up my training regimen and I plan to have some company. Along with that, I am in the process of organizing an informal association of martial arts students of all disciplines in Albuquerque, to promote community outside of competition. Martial artists should really be working together and sharing, not isolated in the islands of martial arts schools you find now. Especially for those students committed to reaching the highest levels of skill in the long-term, I think that this is vital.
In the next couple months, somewhere squeezed between earning the basic amount of money my chosen lifestyle requires, I also have some other major travels planned. In September I will be running the Duke City marathon, but earlier in that same month I've got the opportunity to visit a very good friend who will be in Hawaii, and staying there while she's there will be much more affordable than it would normally ever be... So maybe a week in Hawaii? Let's hope a cheap plane ticket materializes.
... Because I also really want to visit my friends down in Mexico sometime this fall. Guadalajara, Zacatecas, and Villahermosa are very much in my thoughts and I already feel I've let too much time pass since I've visited. Money to get down there is the only serious issue, that coupled with keeping any work that I manage to get despite these various plans.
If you're seeing a trend towards travel and seizing any idea/opportunity that comes to me, good. I've reached a point where I really see the sort of life I want. I have clear goals and I really believe I can achieve them. The path I'm envisioning will require as much hard work and sacrafice as the happiness it promises me. I think, having found the life I want to work to have, it is not any more difficult to achieve in principle than any other happy life. What I may sacrafice in stability and future "security"(as if the future were ever secure) for a chance to really take advantage of my youthful years, make the most of myself and gain all the education of experience that can be gained no other way.
The adventure ahead is intimidating so I can understand if you think I'm a little crazy. The truth is these aren't even half the plans I've got cooking. Give me a little faith, when it's all said and done, it'll make for a book you'll actually want to read.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Life in Dulan
I wrote this whole blog before and my computer lost it, so hopefully I have the patience to do it twice. I'm on a train with not much else to do, so why not.
To start, I've been living in Dulan, a small beach town/artist colony on the east coast of Taiwan, north of Taitung. The town is a great mixture of Chinese and indigenous Taiwanese cultures, as well as the international beach culture that seems to manifest wherever weather is warm and beaches are close. I came here on the advice of my Malaysian friend TC who I met in Luye. I originally ignored this farm as I was looking for full Chinese immersion and the farm is owned by a multilingual Dutchman named Barry. Thanks to helpful and talkative friends, Chinese practice has ended up not being a problem afterall.
Barry is trying to establish a really neat permaculture/acuaculture farming project on his land north of Dulan. He's even building a large bamboo dome as a home on the land. The whole project is very ambitious, but moving along quickly with many opportunities to learn new skills. So far I've gathered and lain the stone for a raised path around a pond, tended to the crops, and am currently constructing the wooden frame for another large building on the property.
Barry and his wife Sonia, Taiwanese from Taipei, bought and manage a very comfortable hostel, or min su, in the center of Dulan, which has the additional benefit of giving them a place to house volunteers like myself. As friends, guests, and volunteers move in and out of the hostel, it consistenty provea a great means of satisfying my need to make cool new acquaintances. In addition to me and TC volunteering we currently have a Taiwanese girl, ShaoWen, who I've already become good friends with, two Hong Kong girls newly arrived, and apparently a whole slew of others on their way in the next couple weeks. This in addition to people visiting from other parts of Taiwan, who I have had a lot of fun getting to know.
As I mentioned Dulan is a bit of an Artists' colony, and I basically stumbled into its center. The town's unofficial center would seem to be the old sugar factory, now a cafe and art gallery, which hosts live music on Saturdays and attracts a good showing of different characters. Through Barry and Sonia I've been introduced to a great, and very-tight, community of artsy intelligent foreigners and often their equally talented and interesting Taiwanese significant others. There's Romain the French baker and handyman, Tim the British poet/painter, Alvaro the Spanish painter and musician, Roman the Canadian outdoorsman, Patrick the Mexican musician and cook, and many others. The whole group is extremely well-travelled and very easy going. Meals are often communal and delicious thanks to the culinary magic of especially Sonia, but also others. Barry is also a talented musician and it's rare that get-togethers don't quickly slide into jam sessions. I get the chance to converse in 4 languages, but with Chinese wreaking havoc on my Spanish and French. As is not always the case, everyone seems very appreciative of the chance to speak their mother tongue.
Life here is good fun punctuated by hours of hard work and the long stretch of useless time when the intense midday heat prevents most human activity. The schedule is odd, if also oddly comfortable. We'll work from 6-9 am and from 3-6 after noon to avoid the worst heat. Though an early schedule, I've managed to throw into the very early morning or evening kung fu/parkour training sessions on the roof alternating with surf sessions up the coast by way of scooter. So much to the benefit of my mental well-being I get decent amounts of my favorite activities. Sundays and the random occasional other day are free, and are easily spent on these activities or hikes, or when I can, scooter rides to Taitung City for parkour and gymnastics gym time. Luckily during my couple of days there a few weeks ago I became friends with Coach Lee, who actually visited Albuquerque 25 years ago and is happy to let me train for free in the University's gym.
For my birthday I treated myself with a trip to the much bigger Kaohsiung City to explore and see some movies, on the train back from which I find myself now. Well, plenty more adventures on the horizon I'm sure, and I'll try to keep you all informed. I miss and love all you guys.
P.S. Forecast of amazing waves this Sunday, cross your fingers for me that they actually make it here and that I'm good enough to make the most of them. Peace.
PPS. Added next day... So after again running out of gas on the way back from the train station in Taitung (the fuel gauge doesn't work) at midnight, I resolved to walking the bike up the coast, but after a mile or two someone on a motorcycle offered to push me and he ended up pushing me to a late night gas station he knew. People can be awesome. I got back to find my hostelmates threw me a surprise bday party. They had all stayed up and gotten the next morning off of work. So we all ate cake, talked and hung out until the wee hours of the morning. A great birthday.
To start, I've been living in Dulan, a small beach town/artist colony on the east coast of Taiwan, north of Taitung. The town is a great mixture of Chinese and indigenous Taiwanese cultures, as well as the international beach culture that seems to manifest wherever weather is warm and beaches are close. I came here on the advice of my Malaysian friend TC who I met in Luye. I originally ignored this farm as I was looking for full Chinese immersion and the farm is owned by a multilingual Dutchman named Barry. Thanks to helpful and talkative friends, Chinese practice has ended up not being a problem afterall.
Barry is trying to establish a really neat permaculture/acuaculture farming project on his land north of Dulan. He's even building a large bamboo dome as a home on the land. The whole project is very ambitious, but moving along quickly with many opportunities to learn new skills. So far I've gathered and lain the stone for a raised path around a pond, tended to the crops, and am currently constructing the wooden frame for another large building on the property.
Barry and his wife Sonia, Taiwanese from Taipei, bought and manage a very comfortable hostel, or min su, in the center of Dulan, which has the additional benefit of giving them a place to house volunteers like myself. As friends, guests, and volunteers move in and out of the hostel, it consistenty provea a great means of satisfying my need to make cool new acquaintances. In addition to me and TC volunteering we currently have a Taiwanese girl, ShaoWen, who I've already become good friends with, two Hong Kong girls newly arrived, and apparently a whole slew of others on their way in the next couple weeks. This in addition to people visiting from other parts of Taiwan, who I have had a lot of fun getting to know.
As I mentioned Dulan is a bit of an Artists' colony, and I basically stumbled into its center. The town's unofficial center would seem to be the old sugar factory, now a cafe and art gallery, which hosts live music on Saturdays and attracts a good showing of different characters. Through Barry and Sonia I've been introduced to a great, and very-tight, community of artsy intelligent foreigners and often their equally talented and interesting Taiwanese significant others. There's Romain the French baker and handyman, Tim the British poet/painter, Alvaro the Spanish painter and musician, Roman the Canadian outdoorsman, Patrick the Mexican musician and cook, and many others. The whole group is extremely well-travelled and very easy going. Meals are often communal and delicious thanks to the culinary magic of especially Sonia, but also others. Barry is also a talented musician and it's rare that get-togethers don't quickly slide into jam sessions. I get the chance to converse in 4 languages, but with Chinese wreaking havoc on my Spanish and French. As is not always the case, everyone seems very appreciative of the chance to speak their mother tongue.
Life here is good fun punctuated by hours of hard work and the long stretch of useless time when the intense midday heat prevents most human activity. The schedule is odd, if also oddly comfortable. We'll work from 6-9 am and from 3-6 after noon to avoid the worst heat. Though an early schedule, I've managed to throw into the very early morning or evening kung fu/parkour training sessions on the roof alternating with surf sessions up the coast by way of scooter. So much to the benefit of my mental well-being I get decent amounts of my favorite activities. Sundays and the random occasional other day are free, and are easily spent on these activities or hikes, or when I can, scooter rides to Taitung City for parkour and gymnastics gym time. Luckily during my couple of days there a few weeks ago I became friends with Coach Lee, who actually visited Albuquerque 25 years ago and is happy to let me train for free in the University's gym.
For my birthday I treated myself with a trip to the much bigger Kaohsiung City to explore and see some movies, on the train back from which I find myself now. Well, plenty more adventures on the horizon I'm sure, and I'll try to keep you all informed. I miss and love all you guys.
P.S. Forecast of amazing waves this Sunday, cross your fingers for me that they actually make it here and that I'm good enough to make the most of them. Peace.
PPS. Added next day... So after again running out of gas on the way back from the train station in Taitung (the fuel gauge doesn't work) at midnight, I resolved to walking the bike up the coast, but after a mile or two someone on a motorcycle offered to push me and he ended up pushing me to a late night gas station he knew. People can be awesome. I got back to find my hostelmates threw me a surprise bday party. They had all stayed up and gotten the next morning off of work. So we all ate cake, talked and hung out until the wee hours of the morning. A great birthday.
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